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The parent company of ATA Airlines has changed its name to Global Aero Logistics Inc. and is acquiring the parent of North American Airlines.

The name change was revealed Thursday at the airline's corporate headquarters in Indianapolis, where new CEO Subodh Karnik said only that, "The name better reflects our company's diverse, worldwide operations."

Then, in a separate press release, ATA announced that Global Aero Logistics would pay $315 million in cash to acquire World Air Holdings Inc., parent of World Airways Inc. and North American Airlines Inc.

World Air Holdings shareholders will be paid $12.50 per share in cash, 56 percent more than the average closing price of their stock for the 30 trading days to Sept. 5 when the company announced a strategic review process.

ATA said the initial plan was to operate three distinct airlines -- ATA, World Airways and North American Airlines -- under one corporate umbrella. The transaction is scheduled for completion in the third quarter.

There are interesting synergies between ATA and World Air Holdings. North American Airlines is a small carrier -- 10 planes -- that had operated from Oakland, Calif., while ATA last year moved its San Francisco operations to Oakland. Also, ATA is the nation's largest military charter airline and runs more civilian charters than any other carrier, while World Airways operates in the same business with 17 wide-body aircraft. World Airways gets three-quarters of its business from contracts with the U.S. Air Force.

ATA emerged from bankruptcy last year having shed most of its Midwestern commuter operations while adding flights to Hawaii, including significant capacity from Oakland, Calif., and the only direct flights from the Mainland to Hilo, which had had no West Coast service for years.

The key to ATA's Hawaii service is the code-share alliance with Southwest Airlines, the largest Mainland carrier that does not fly to Hawaii under its own imprimatur. With no suitable aircraft for the trans-Pacific haul, Southwest chose to make ATA its Hawaii extension. The agreement was reached during ATA's bankruptcy.

ATA has 29 aircraft and 2,500 employees. Its majority shareholder since reorganization has been New York-based MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners, which has been in the news this week for joining with Texas Pacific Group to make a bid for the Italian government's 49.9 percent stake in Alitalia. The Italian airline has 175 aircraft and flies to 100 cities. It has alliances with Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines.

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